Chapter Text
"Kageyama."
The junior detective tore his eyes away from his report and looked up at the sound of his name. His senior detective, Sawamura-san was standing by his desk, smiling broadly at him. Tobio put his report down and stood up, nodding slightly in greeting.
"Yes?" He asked politely. Sawamura-san nodded back in greeting, smile still in place.
"We spoke about this last week about the new intern's coming in today. Do you remember?"
Tobio's thin eyebrows rose high, eyes wide. Sawamura-san chuckled.
"I guess not," he remarked and Tobio felt heat creep up the back of his neck.
"Sorry- I was-," he stammered, trying to find an excuse that he really did forget and not that he wasn't paying attention to his senior when they talked about it. Sawamura-san, thankfully, took no offense and waved off his apologies.
"Don't worry about it," he said lightly. "I'm actually here to introduce the intern to you anyway."
It was then that Tobio noticed a person hiding behind Sawamura-san. He cocked his head to get a better view. The intern was short, barely reaching Sawamura-san's shoulders. His wild hair was a bright orange that Tobio had to blink to get used to the brightness. The detective frowned, his eyes sliding down from his hair to his face, locking gazes with a pair of brown orbs. The pair of brown eyes were round and wide and big and Tobio blinked, taking in his whole face, from his small nose and his smooth round cheeks. He was watching the detective curiously, his lips pursed as he continued to hide behind Sawamura-san.
"... A high schooler?" Tobio accidentally blurted out and immediately the expression on the intern's face turned sour.
"What was that, you bastard?!" His voice was shrill and loud and Tobio winced at the assault on his ears. He watched the intern trying to give him the most intimidating glare he could muster, but it was significantly watered down by the fact that the intern was still hiding behind Sawamura-san, who laughed at their exchange.
"Kageyama," he chortled, wiping a tear from the corner of his eye as he stepped away from the intern, leaving the shorter man exposed to Tobio's full scrutiny. "This is Hinata Shouyou. He's the same age as you and he'll be interning here for six months. Hinata, this is Kageyama Tobio, a junior detective in my department."
Tobio's eyesbrows were up to his hairline. He studied Hinata's stiffened posture and pout and the first thought that came to him was, "What a dumbass."
One could call Kageyama Tobio a genius.
Entering the Police Academy after dropping out of university at twenty-three years of age, he graduated within a year and was made junior detective a mere six months after. One could see the talent he had at picking up clues and going after leads. If there was a flaw to this genius, however, it was his inability to bond with his colleagues. It was not uncommon for Tobio to accidentally step on the toes of the more experienced, either through his lack of politeness or his unwitting disregard for social etiquette. He was hard to work with, many complained, and behind his back they dubbed him a tyrant king.
Nevertheless, Tobio did his job as per usual, closing his eyes to the discrimination he faced. He didn't even object when his colleagues had enough, requesting him to be transferred to a different district - he merely nodded and carried on working.
That was when he was placed under the care of Chief Nekomata and placed in the same team as Kuroo-san and Sawamura-san, who treated him kindly. Even then, Tobio could feel the gap between him and his senior detectives, and it frustrated him that he could not get along well with others naturally.
Which was why Tobio was staring in shock at the scene in front of him.
He had been instructed by Sawamura-san to bring the new intern around the office - "like a tour," he had said, smiling at Hinata's enthusiasm. Tobio couldn't bring himself to refuse, especially without a good reason; he had finished his report and there wasn't anything urgent that he needed to attend to. Plus, Sawamura-san was scary when he was angry. He did the tour with a flat voice which didn't deter the shorter intern, his brown eyes shining as he took in everything in stride. He greeted everyone cheerfully, smiling wide, bouncing from the balls of his feet. Tobio merely grimaced, confused at the attention Hinata was getting easily from his colleagues but did nothing to stop, walking broodingly next to him.
But he couldn't help and let his jaw drop when he brought Hinata to meet the Medical Officer, Kozume-san. Hinata had practically bounded to the other and chatted his ear off. He was even more surprised that Kozume-san did not withdraw from the intern like he had whenever Kageyama spoke to him, but instead spoke to him normally, eyes glinting. He never thought Kozume-san could talk that much.
"How..?" Tobio trailed off, staring at the back of Hinata's head after they left Kozume-san's office, curiosity getting the better of him. Hinata turned after saving Kozume-san's number to look at him questioningly. Tobio cleared his throat hesitantly.
"How do you... Talk to people like that?" He asked again, eyes focused on the empty space by the other man's ear as he willed himself to not blush. Hinata blinked owlishly at him, brown eyes staring before his lips split to a grin.
"I just do," he shrugged, turning back round before exclaiming at something. Tobio could only watch, confused and slightly frustrated at the intern's answer.
Yet he couldn't help the feeling of awe washing over him.
"Good morning Kageyama!"
Tobio tore his eyes from his report, blinking tired blue eyes that took in the sight of a fresh face and bright orange hair. He squinted under the harsh light until Hinata's face came into focus, a smile wide on his face and a cup of brewed coffee in his hands. Tobio's mouth watered at the smell of coffee, the fog in his head started to clear.
"Ossu," he mumbled, eyes still on the cup of coffee. Hinata noticed his stare on the coffee for his smile got bigger as he placed the cup on Tobio's desk.
"I ran into Daichi-san on my way here," the intern began, pulling his jacket off as he sat in the seat beside Tobio. "He told me you've been in since yesterday afternoon. He also told me you like the coffee from the cafe across the street."
Tobio blinked, surprised at the kind gesture. He felt his ears grew warm at the sight of Hinata's smile before he tore his eyes away, picking up the coffee, trying to distract himself. "... Thanks," he muttered. Although he couldn't see Hinata's face, he was pretty sure the smile of the intern's face has grown.
"Don’t mention it!" Hinata said as he leaned into his seat, pulling out a wrapped meatbun before biting into it. Tobio turned his attention back to his coffee on hand and took a tentative sip.
They sat in silence for a moment, amidst the bustling of the office. Tobio took the time to think back on the first time he met the intern. It had been two months since then, and he could visibly see the impact the intern had made in the office. While he was clumsy to no end during the first few weeks (with an incident where Hinata accidentally spilled coffee all over Tobio's desk and his reports, resulting in a screaming match between the two that was ultimately broken up by a very angry Sawamura-san), he picked up the duties he was assigned to eagerly and was now running around smoothly with minimal supervision. His bright personality certainly helped him as well, with colleagues willing to show him the ropes and being generally friendly towards him.
Tobio chanced a glance to his right at Hinata and was startled by the sudden closeness between them - the intern was leaning over his table, looking at his report with interest. Tobio pushed himself back into the seat to avoid contact with Hinata, his face suddenly feeling warm. The intern didn't seemed to have noticed the junior detective's discomfort, brown eyes focused on the words Tobio had typed out throughout the night and puffed out cheeks full of meatbun.
"So what's your current case about?" Hinata asked, pulling Tobio out of his thoughts. Tobio gave a cough, taking another sip of coffee before placing the cup gingerly on his desk.
"Missing person," he mumbled, eyeing the report in slight distaste.
He liked the work of a detective, he really did. But being assigned missing persons cases really took a toll on him, physically and emotionally. Most days, Tobio would find himself sprawled on his desk or the pantry table, taking the time to go home only for a quick shower and a change of clothes. On the bad days, however, he would come back to the office with a black eye from a grieving family member. Tobio had refused countless times to press charges on these instances of assault though, insisting that he was fine. But when he lay in bed at night after closing a case, he could feel an emptiness in his chest that he couldn't fill.
Hinata looked up from his report to his face, his lips forming an excited question. Maybe it was his expression - Tobio couldn't school it in time - because the intern's inquisitive look turned to one of concern. He reached and gingerly placed a hand on Tobio's arm.
"You okay?" He asked softly, brown eyes looking straight into his blue ones and Tobio fought the urge to tear his gaze away. He settled on nodding stiffly, taking in a deep breath and letting it out, the tension in his shoulders leaving his being before clearing his throat.
"I usually deal with missing persons," Tobio began and Hinata slid back to his seat, his eyes shining in eagerness. "People would be reported missing after twenty-four hours and the police would usually handle it, with the questioning and surveillance. But if the reported person is suspected to be in danger, the case will be brought up to the detectives."
"That's where I come in," Tobio took another sip of coffee, eyeing his report still. "Sometimes people don't go missing because they want to. Kidnapping.., Suicide and so on... I follow their trails as quickly as I can. This one," Tobio tapped his monitor, sparing a glance at Hinata who was listening with rapt attention. "Disappeared three days ago near the Shibuya crossing. Found her yesterday morning dead in the lake of the Yoyogi Park with her wrists slashed. Suicide."
He remembered finding the body, floating just out of sight of civilians. Clothes that were brand new and drenched with blood and water. A suicide note was hidden in her bag by the bank. Tobio could still see the image of her mother in his mind, collapsed on the floor, sobbing uncontrollably after they positively identified the body. He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose before taking the last few sips of his coffee. A warm touch startled him out of his thoughts. He turned to find Hinata touching his back gently, his eyes warm.
"Kageyama," he said, smiling softly. "You did what you could."
Tobio's eyes widened at that before he sighed. He locked gazes with the intern and gave a minute nod. "Mhn," he mumbled, turning away to finish the last few sections of his report.
"You really like your job, huh?" He heard Hinata asked, curiosity colouring his tone.
"I do," he replied almost immediately. And he did, even with the crazy hours and emotional toll on his being.
“Why did you become a detective?"
At that question, Tobio paused his typing, his eyes unseeing. His mind drifted to memories he didn't want to remember and shook his head slightly.
"Kageyama?"
Tobio took a moment before turning to face the intern, lifting a hand and roughly ruffled the bright orange hair. It earned him a squawk from Hinata who tried to struggle out of his grip.
“Don’t be a busybody,” Tobio said, his voice carrying a tone of finality.
As Hinata whined about how mean the junior detective was to him and Kuroo-san appearing with a smirk on his face, Tobio's thoughts drifted back to memories of hostile brown eyes and a thin smile.